


First Impressions

by SenatusConsultum (TheSenator)



Category: Assassin's Creed
Genre: Arguments, First Meeting, Flirting, Gen, Reader-Insert, Why is the rum gone
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-18
Updated: 2015-05-18
Packaged: 2018-05-12 15:30:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5670958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSenator/pseuds/SenatusConsultum
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You and Edward bump into each other, kicking off an argumentative, combative relationship.</p>
            </blockquote>





	First Impressions

As the newest barmaid in Havana, [Y/N] was being put through the paces. She was expected to serve the most lecherous pirates and clean up after, well, _everyone._ She also had to meet the ships at the port to pick up and carry back the rum shipments. It was backbreaking work on a good day.

Today was not a good day.

She was carrying two rum barrels up the beach when she was knocked to the ground. The barrels flew into the air; one of them crashed against a sharp rock and split open, spilling the rum onto the sand. She looked around angrily and saw a blonde man stand up and dust himself off.

“Hey!” she shouted. “Watch where you’re going!”

He turned and growled at her. “Me?! You were in _my_ way, lass. You’re lucky that barrel of rum is the only thing that’s broken.”

He stalked off up the beach toward the town. She sighed angrily, picked up the intact barrel of rum, and dragged it to the tavern. The barkeep looked at her.

“I thought we were getting more than one barrel today,” he said.

“We _were_ , until some jackass knocked me over and broke the other one,” she spat. She sighed. “I’m sorry. Anything I need to do here?”

He nodded toward a table. “Yeah, Hornigold was asking for you.”

She laughed. “Of course he was.”

Benjamin Hornigold was the first pirate she met at the tavern in Havana, and he’d been trying to get under her skirt ever since. He was clever, and she enjoyed flirting with him, but that was as far as she’d let him get. She picked up a bottle of rum and sauntered over to them.

“Hey, Ben,” she called, “Long time no see. What have you been—“ she stopped short when she saw that the man who had knocked her over was sitting at Hornigold’s table.

“You! What are _you_ doing here?” she fumed.

Hornigold smirked. “Kenway, how have you wronged this lass? I hope he didn’t hurt you too bad, love—I can help you get over him if you’d like.” He winked at her.

The other pirate—Kenway—rolled his eyes. “It’s nothing like that, Ben. She ran into me earlier and broke one of her rum barrels.”

Her eyes narrowed. “What? _You_ ran into me! We’re a barrel short because of you! It’s barely noon and we’re already running low on today’s stock–what am I supposed to tell the other _privateers_  who frequent our establishment?”

She lunged at him. Hornigold held her back.

“Easy, lass,” he said, his voice hard and serious. She growled in frustration, but didn’t fight him. He released her. “I’m sure that Edward here would be _happy_ to replace the barrel he broke. He pulled in quite a haul yesterday. _Isn’t that right,_ Edward?”

Edward glared at Hornigold. He nodded grudgingly; he was acting more annoyed than he was.

“Fine,” he drawled. “I’ll set one aside for you. Come to the port tomorrow and it’s yours.”

—

She arrived at the port early the next morning; Edward was barking orders to his crew, who were unloading sugar, rum, and bolts of fabric. She gulped; it turned out that when he wasn’t being an insufferable ass, Edward was quite handsome. This morning, he was working on the deck in just his boots and breeches; his muscled, tattooed chest glistened in the sun.

 _He’s probably doing this on purpose, to see if he can get a rise out of me,_ she thought. She steeled her resolve, smoothed her skirt, and walked confidently to his ship. He saw her and smirked.

“You’re here early,” he called.

“Wanted to make sure you didn’t run off with my rum,” she retorted. “Nice ship. It’s a smaller than I was expecting.”

Edward grabbed a rope and swung down to the dock, landing gracefully in front of her.

“The size of the ship doesn’t matter if the Captain can’t handle the helm.” He smirked. “I would’ve thought _Hornigold_ had taught you that much.”

She scoffed. “Hornigold has never handled my helm, Captain Kenway. Now, where is my rum?”

“Over there with my Quartermaster. But I’ll carry it for you. You had a lot of trouble with the last barrel you tried to carry,” he said haughtily.

She rolled her eyes. Edward picked up the barrel and started heading toward the tavern. She followed, admiring the way his back and shoulder muscles flexed as he carried the barrel.

“This is tough work, lass, especially for someone your size,” he said, breaking the silence between them.

She shrugged. “I’m stronger than I look… This is nothing compared to having to clean up after you lot every night.”

They reached the tavern, and Edward set the barrel down next to the others behind the bar.

“Here you go, lass. Watch where you’re going next time. Ben won’t always be there to make sure you get what you want from me,” he said with a cheeky smile.

She smirked. “Aye, Captain. I’ll be sure to avoid any further collisions with pirates such as yourself. So long as you stay out of _my_ way.”

Edward chuckled and turned to leave. She placed her hand on his arm to stop him.

“And Captain…” she said, her voice low and smooth. “If there’s anything else I need from you, I’ll tell you. I don’t need Ben Hornigold to help me get what I want.”

Edward looked her over and smirked before heading down the stairs. She smiled as she began preparing for the day. Maybe being the newest barmaid wasn’t so bad after all.


End file.
